Pinnacle High takes first state tournament

Pinnacle High brought home the gold in 2008 by winning the Utah School Sports Alliance's state basketball tournament.

The girls had to overcome three opponents to reach their goal, with the first games being played in a three set format. PCA started against Merit Academy and lost their first set 25-23, it would turn out to be the only set they would lose the whole tournament. They rallied quickly in the second winning 25-15 and sealed the victory in the third with a decisive 15-2 victory. During the match, Monique Hullings, Ashia Andrews and Julianne Price served 10, 10 and seven aces in a row. Hullings also had scored six in the second set.

In the second contest Maeser Prep stepped up and was shut down in straight sets winning 25-12 and 25-21. According to coach Heidi Kay, Price had 17 points in the first set and 10 in the second. Bethany Najera also scored big with seven points in second set.

In the championship game PCA played Maeser Prep. The last contest was a best of five series but it made no matter as PCA downed the competition in three straight sets; 25-15, 25-10 and 25-21. Price had 10, eight and six points respectively and was voted the tournaments most valuable player. In the championship's second set Hardy had 10 points and in the last set Najera scored six. Kay noted that Meriah Dimick had two game turning saves during the championship match.

"All the girls played with a lot of heart," said Kay. "They were all very aggressive and were determined to win. Our serving took some time to warm up but once it did the girls were on fire."